


No harm done

by Naji_Dragonchild



Series: Hunter x Hunter shorts [1]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assassin Killua Zoldyck, Bisexual Gon Freecs, Creepy Hisoka (Hunter X Hunter), Doctor Leorio Paladiknight, Everyone Is Gay, Falling In Love, Gay Killua Zoldyck, How Do I Tag, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Not Beta Read, Organized Crime, Parental Kurapika (Hunter X Hunter), Parental Leorio Paladiknight, Trans Alluka Zoldyck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:07:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23196796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naji_Dragonchild/pseuds/Naji_Dragonchild
Summary: 'York New was a rotten place.With one of the highest crime rates and entire parts of the city controlled by gangs and the mafia it was one of the worst places to live in.'Leorio saves a child on his way home, unknowing who the kid is, until he almost gets himself killed. Almost.
Relationships: Gon Freecs & Killua Zoldyck, Gon Freecs & Kurapika & Leorio Paladiknight & Killua Zoldyck, Gon Freecs/Killua Zoldyck, Hisoka/Illumi Zoldyck, Kurapika/Leorio Paladiknight, Leorio Paladiknight & Killua Zoldyck
Series: Hunter x Hunter shorts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667707
Comments: 34
Kudos: 264





	1. Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Based of the prompt 'You live in a city where crime runs rampant. One day, you save a young boy's life, not knowing that he is the crime lord's son, and you have just joined the No-Harm-list.' by writing.prompt.
> 
> Enjoy!

York New was a rotten place.  
With one of the highest crime rates and entire parts of the city controlled by gangs and the mafia it was one of the worst places to live in.  
At the same time it was also one of the places where you could get the best education. Especially in the medical field. Due to all the gang wars there was a big interest in doctors.  
Leorio had no intention of ever working for any of these criminals. He wanted to become a doctor though and for someone with as little money as he had York New sadly was the best and maybe only opportunity.  
He had quickly learnt how to defend himself and how to avoid streets where something was about to go down.  
He didn't always do so though.  
Sometimes the urge to help was stronger than the common sense.  
Kurapika always told him that he needed to cut it out but he never managed to. He wasn't the type of person who could block out a distressed person or a cry for help.

He knew that something was happening in the alleyway before he even passed it.  
Carefully he peaked around the corner and immediately knew that Kurapika would yell at him later.  
Three tall men with knives had surrounded a small child maybe around Gon's age. Backed the child into a corner.  
Leorio closed his hand around the knife hidden in his waistband.  
Not on his goddamn watch.

"Hey, assholes!" he yelled when one of the men moved to strike the kid.

They turned around suprised. Then pissed.

"Keep walking if you know what's good for you!" one of the men yelled at him.

Leorio most certainly did not know what was good for him. He pulled out his knife and charged for the nearest of the thugs.  
The man was surprised and Leorio took the opportunity to stab him in the shoulder and take the man's weapon.

"Hey!" one of the other two yelled and punched Leorio in the face before he could react.

His glasses flew through the air and clattered against the ground somewhere behind him.  
He felt one of his knives meet flesh.  
Police sirens cut through the air.

"Damnit!," the man Leorio had stabbed cursed. "Let's get out of here! Not worth it!"

Leorio let them run.  
Blood was leaking from his own nose and it hurt. Not broken at least.  
He pocketed his and the man's knives and turned towards the kid.

He had pale skin, white hair and intense blue eyes that stared at Leorio in surprise.  
No visible injury on first glance.

"Are you hurt?" Leorio asked anyway.

The boy stared for a few moments. Geez, didn't this kid need to blink?

"A bit," he finally responded. "Not badly."

"I'm a doctor," Leorio claimed. The kid didn't need to know that he wasn't done with medical school yet. "I can help you."

Children in this city had to learn early on to watch their backs. Leorio knew that the boy wouldn't trust him just because he had fended off the thugs.  
The boy narrowed his eyes at him, still not blinking.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Leorio. Leorio Paladiknight."

"Do you have any medical supplies on you?" the boy asked.

Leorio shook his head.

"Not right now but I live just down the street," he pointed in the vague direction.

The boy nodded.

"Alright, lead the way."

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Leorio briefly wondered if the child might rob him as he unlocked the apartment door.  
He pushed the thought away.

"I'm home!" he called into the crammed apartment.

"Hi!" Gon's voice called from the kitchen. 

"You're late!" Kurapika scolded from the same direction. 

The smell of fried meat filtered out into the hallway.  
Leorio kicked off his shoes and lead the boy into the kitchen-living-room combination.

Gon sat at the dinner table over his homework and looked up happily at the excuse not to continue doing it.  
Kurapika sat next to him and the moment the blonde spotted the blood under Leorio's nose his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What. Happened," he demanded, dark eyes flickering red.

"Who's that?" Gon asked at the same time and Leorio made a mental note to buy the kid something nice as a 'thank you'.

"Someone who needs medical attention," he responded and made a beeline for the medicine cabinet. "So, where are you hurt, kid?"

The boy was tore his gaze away from Gon and Kurapika and hesitantly lifted his shorts leg to reveal a bloody cut.

"It's not bad," he said again.

"Take a seat on the table," Leorio instructed and got to work by cleaning the cut.

It wasn't too deep and no mayor arteries had been damaged but it was a pretty long cut.  
Still, after it was clean Leorio put a bandaid over it and told the kid that it should be healed in no time.  
The boy nodded as if he had already know that.

"How old are you?" he then asked Gon.

"Almost twelve," Gon said.

"Same as me," the kid muttered.

Kurapika pulled Leorio out of the room just as Gon introduced himself.

"Who's the boy and why did you bring him to our apartment?" the blonde gritted out.

"I saw him get cornered in an alleyway," Leorio began and Kurapika sighed, already guessing what would come next. "I had to step in! I scared the assholes off and when he said that he was a little hurt I couldn't just leave it at that!"

"One day you're going to get yourself killed like this," Kurapika sighed and shook his head but his eyes faded back to their usual black.  
In the kitchen a timer went off and Kurapika went back inside.

"Are you staying for dinner, Killua?" Gon asked the boy - Killua, apparently - enthusiastically.

"If I'm allowed to," Killua shrugged.

"Can he stay? Pretty, pretty please?" Gon turned to Kurapika and Leorio.

Leorio shot his boyfriend a questioning look.

"Wouldn't it be better if you went home before it gets dark?" Kurapika asked.

Killua shook his head.

"Nah, I'll be fine. I don't live far from here."

Kurapika sighed and took one more plate out of the cupboard: "Alright then."

Gon cheered and got up to help Kurapika set the table.  
Leorio smiled at how quickly Gon was to form a bond with the other kid.  
He had been about as quick to get attached to him and Kurapika and somehow made people grow attached to him aswell.

Dinner was a bit louder than usually.  
Gon and Killua seemed to get along like a house fire, joking and play fighting the entire time.

"Would you like one of us to walk you home?" Kurapika asked when they were almost done.

Killua looked surprised at the question.

"No, thank you. I'll be fine. Thanks for the meal though. It was really good," the boy smiled.

"Are you sure?" Leorio asked again. "It's even more dangerous at this time."

He glanced outside at the street. Some of the lamps weren't working leaving parts of the street in complete darkness.

"Completely sure," Killua responded confidently.

"Let's meet again!" Gon suggested after they had cleared the table as Killua was putting his shoes back on.  
Killua smiled back at him.

"Okay, let's."

With that he disappeared out the door.  
Leorio had the vague feeling that something big had just happened but brushed it off.  
By the time he crawled into bed with Kurapika he had forgotten completely about the feeling.

The following days were uneventful and he had almost forgotten about Killua when he walked right into a standoff on his way home.  
He had been tired. Too tired to pay attention to where he was going only to realise way to late that he was fucked.  
Two men with guns stood on either side of him and they didn't look happy at being interrupted.  
One raised his gun and pointed it at Leorio.  
His finger pressed against the trigger like in slow motion.

His companion slapped the weapon out of his grip.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" he hissed and pointed at Leorio. "Don't you recognize the guy?"

The guy who had aimed at him looked confused.

"Leorio Paladiknight," his companion hissed and all blood drained from the man's face.

"Fuck."

"That's right. Do you have any idea what would have happened if you had shot him?!"

"Fuck!" the man cursed again. "They would have-"

Whatever it was that 'they' would have done to him the man didn't dare to say aloud.

Leorio would have liked to know what it was.  
He would have liked to know why the men were terrified to hurt him.  
He would have liked to know why went home that day unharmed and alive.

Gon and Killua were playing some game that looked like a race or catch in the street in front of the apartment building.

They greeted him and Leorio remembered to return the sentiment although a bit too late judging by the confused looks it earned him.

He went up into the apartment and gave Kurapika a kiss on the mouth instead of the cheek like he usually did when he came home and helped set the table - for four people again instead of three.  
Kurapika noticed that something was up too - of course he did.

He didn't ask until all of them were sitting at the table and the two teen were hungrily digging into their food.  
And Leorio told them.  
Because Kurapika was insanely smart and Leorio was probably in shock and maybe his boyfriend could figure out how the hell he had survived his stupidity.

Kurapika frowned.

"Sounds like you're on a No-Harm-list," he stated. "But why?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Killua suddenly spoke up. "Because I put him there."

"Really?" Gon asked. "That's really nice of you!"

Both teens shifted their attention back to their nearly empty plates.  
The two adults remained frozen staring at Killua.

"What do you mean 'you put him there'?" Kurapika asked slowly.

Something dark glimmered in Killua's eyes as he looked up with a slight grin.

"My full name his Killua Zoldyck."

Zoldyck.  
The most well-known family of assassins in the world.  
One of the most powerful families in the city since all the mob bosses were constantly trying to win their favour or use them to get rid of their enemies.  
The Zoldycks were said to kill anyone without mercy but if they felt like a job wasn't worth it there were rumours of them killing their employers instead.  
Rumour had it that even the children were sent on jobs from a very young age.  
As far as Leorio knew the family consistent of one old man, a man and a women and their five children.

And one of those children was now sitting at his dinner table and gorging himself on noodles because he had somehow become friends with Gon after Leorio had saved him from a few thugs and taken care off a cut on his leg.

He was pretty sure that this kid could kill him with a spoon and he had tried to save him from some thugs.

"Why did you put me on the No-Harm-list?" Leorio asked.

"Because... I don't want you to be harmed?" Killua said as if it was obvious. "You were nice to me and the chocolate pudding was really good."

Had they had chocolate pudding the day Killua had first eaten with them?  
Leorio couldn't even remember.

"You put us on the No-Harm-list because you liked the pudding?" Kurapika asked in disbelief.

"I like sweets," Killua shrugged. "And I don't often get dessert at home."

"Do you really live nearby?" Gon asked cheerfully like he had completely missed the fact that Killua was a god damn assassin.

"Nah, not really. But I didn't need anyone walking me home and that was the best way to convince you I could think of," Killua casually replied and swallowed his last fork of noodles.

"And you're really an assassin?" Gon continued. 

So it hadn't gone over his head. He was just not bothered.

"Yeah, of course. What else would I be?"

"That's so cool!" Gon beamed.

"You're weird," Killua told him.

Leorio silently agreed.


	2. The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I went all out with the fluff. Feast!

It was rare these days that Leorio and Kurapika found the time to go on a date.  
With Leorio studying hard to become a doctor and Kurapika working as a bodyguard for the daughter of some mafia guy their schedules were usually full or they had free time at different times.  
So when they got the chance to actually go out and enjoy themselves they took it and made sure to make the best out of it.

Kurapika had made a reservation at a nice restaurant for the evening.   
Nice but not too fancy because fancy usually meant mafioso and they wanted to enjoy this.

The warm smell of food hit Leorio as they stepped into the small restaurant.  
They were lead to their table and handed the menus before the waiter was gone again, seating a small group of people that had just arrived.

"Do you know what you want?" Kurapika asked after a few minutes.

Leorio contemplated saying "You" but came to the conclusion that that would either earn him a glare or a kick against the shin.

"The noodles with shrimp sound good," he said instead. "What about you?"

Kurapika was silent for a moment pondering over the menu.

"I think I'll go with steak today," he finally settled.

They ordered and the waiter took their menus back to the kitchen.

Leorio put his hand over Kurapika and smiled at the shorter.

"It's been a while since it's been just the two of us," he remarked.

Kurapika smiled back and Leorio's heart skipped a beat at how beautiful he looked with his wonderful blond hair that framed his face in sunshine and his wonderful big eyes surrounded by deep black lashes and his lightly tanned skin and...

"Since Gon moved in we really didn't have much time for ourselves," Kurapika agreed effectefly pulling Leorio out of the 'Oh dear god my boyfriend is gorgeous' train of thought. "That shirt suits you perfectly, by the way."

"Thank you. You look wonderful too," Leorio intertwinded their fingers.

The waiter came back with their food just a little later.

Both dishes looked delicious.   
Leorio let Kurapika try his noodles and in turn Kurapika let him try the steak.

"This place is really good," Leorio hummed licking a bit of sauce of his lips. "How'd you find it?"

Kurapika shrugged.

"One of my colleagues suggested it. Said that he and his wife always celebrate their anniversaries here, so I thought we could check it out."

"A very good decision. We'll need to come here again!"

Kurapika made a noise of agreement.

"I'm sure Gon would like it here too. Maybe we can go here for his birthday," he mused.

Their conversation drifted off over work, Leorio's professors, Gon and finally the kid that kept showing up at their apartment as of late, Killua.  
Gon had begun to call Killua his best friend just not too long ago and the two had almost become inseperable.   
Leorio had even caught them doing on of those silent communication things.

But no matter how well they got along and how ridiculously childish their little competitions and games were the name 'Zoldyck' still seemed to hang over Killua like a warning. A sign to not get too close. A big 'Danger!' in bright red letters.

And Gon ignored it completely.

He ignored that Killua had outright stated that he had killed before.  
He ignored that Killua criticised the assassins and killers in movies and called them amateurs.

And frankly, Leorio was worried about him.  
Kurapika agreed with him, drinking the last sip of the wine he had ordered earlier.

"But what can we do?," Kurapika carried on. "It's not like we can forbid them from being friends and to be honest, I like the kid. He's not evil. I think I'd miss him if he wouldn't come over anymore."

"Me too," Leorio sighed.

"Can I bring you anything else?" the waiter materialized next to their table out of thin air and scooped up their empty plates making Leorio jump at least three feet in the air.

"Uh, the dessert menu, please," Kurapika answered recovering from the jump scare quicker than Leorio could.

"Of course," and the waiter was gone again.

"If he pulls that again he's going to give me a heart attack," Leorio breathed pressing a hand against his chest.

Kurapika snorted at that and pushed a strand of hair that had fallen into his face back.

Leorio tried to commit the image to memory. He wanted to remember how incredibly beautiful Kurapika looked like this, with an easy smile on his lips, blond hair tugged behind his ear showing off his earring, the warm light of the lamps making him look like he was glowing.

"Will you marry me?" Leorio asked suddenly. A split second later his mind caught up with his mouth.

"What?" Kurapika looked at him with wide eyes.

Leorio felt his face heat up.  
But it wasn't like there was a way back now so might aswell commit to it.

"Will you marry me?" he asked again, his voice shaking slightly. "I know this is sudden and I don't even have a ring to be honest but... I mean it. Will you marry me? Because I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to grow old with you and own a nice little house. I want to be with you in all your happiest moments and I want to be there in your worst and help you. And I don't know if maybe that's selfish but I want to... I want to marry you."

He bit his lip to keep himself from rambling even more and hesitantly looked up at the other.

Kurapika was covering his mouth with both hands, eyes still wide but red now.

"Yes," he whispered and his voice cracked slightly. "Yes, I want to marry you."

A smile broke out on Leorio's face.

He reached over and took Kurapika's hands in his, revealing the smile on his boyf- fiancé's face.

"Holy shit," he breathed at the thought. "Does that mean were engaged now?"

Kurapika laughed quietly.

"Yes, I think it does. We're engaged, babe."

Leorio couldn't remember ever having been this happy.  
He felt like he could take on the world with Kurapika by his side.

They ended up getting their food for free and the creepy waiter congratulated them on the engagement and when they stepped out and it rained Leorio found that nothing could ruin this night for him anymore.

The rain was cool but he slung an arm around _his fiance_ Kurapika and together they sauntered back through the streets to their apartment.

He spun Kurapika in a few circles, humming a melody under his breath until both of them were dizzy and drenched in rain water but glowing with happiness.

Leorio felt like a lovesick teenager in some shitty romcom as they stumbled up the stairs to their apartment but he found that maybe that wasn't a bad thing.

Kurapika fiddled with his keys for a bit until he managed to unlock the door in the darkness of the staircase.

They changed out of their wet clothing, hanging them up in the bathroom and snuggled up against eachother on the bed.

Leorio could feel Kurapika smile against his shoulder.

They were engaged.

They were going to marry.

And Leorio couldn't have been happier.


	3. The Cakes

The next morning Leorio woke up alone.

He stumbled into the kitchen to find Gon and Killua eating waffles drenched in acorn syrup for breakfast.

"Are you really getting married?" was the first thing out of Gon's mouth.

Leorio chuckled.

"It'll most likely take some time until we do, but yeah, that's the plan," he said with a smile and took a plate for himself.

"Can I come to the wedding?" Gon asked almost jumping in his chair. "I've never been to a wedding!"

At that Leorio burst out laughing.

"Gon, you're probably my best friend. You're one of Kurapika's best friends. We share an apartment with you. Name one reason you shouldn't be invited to the wedding."

The boy bit into his waffle with the frown he always had when he was deep in thought.

"He's trying to tell you that there is no reason, moron!" Killua told him. "You are invited."

Gon instantly light up.

"Really?! Yes!"

Leorio chuckled at his antics. Then he let his attention drift over to Killua.

"You're here early today. Do you boys have something planned or something?"

"I didn't go home yesterday. I slept over," Killua shrugged.

"Your parents allowed that?" Leorio still didn't know much about them but Killua's parents didn't seem like they were too fond for their children being outside of their direct control.

"I didn't tell them," Killua just said taking another bite off his waffle.

Like he was completely unaware of the cold shiver of dread that ran down Leorio's spine.

"Won't they be mad that you stayed out all night?" he asked and tried to sound concerned instead of terrified.

"Nah, I've got an excuse," Killua waved off.

"What excuse?"

"I had a job last night. And afterwards I came here. Nobody will be able to find the body to check how long he's been dead and I can just say that I played with him and wasted time," the boy shrugged.

Leorio regretted asking.  
This kid was an assassin, he had to remind himself of that. It wasn't good to let the childish contests and games Killua played with Gon make him forget.

"I should probably get going soon, though," Killua decided looking at the clock. "Or Illumi will get obnoxious. Or, even more obnoxious than usually."

Leorio didn't want to know who Illumi was. He had a feeling that it was someone with a very high body count.

Killua helped clear the table before disappearing out of the door. 

Leorio had to leave soon after and Gon had a school assignment to work on and since it was friday would call his aunt at around noon.

"Can I tell her about your engagement?" he asked as Leorio was already on his way out.

"Would you mind waiting with that for now?" Leorio decided to answer after a beat of hesitation. Personally he would mind Gon telling everyone he knew (which were a lot of people), since he himself wanted to scream it from the rooftops, but Kurapika was a rather private person and he didn't want to make his boyf- fiance uncomfortable.

"Alright," Gon nodded, seemingly understanding without Leorio even explaining. "See you later then!"

"See you later," Leorio gave a small wave before closing the door behind himself.

His classes were uneventful that day, almost even boring, but he did his best to pay attention anyway and not think about the fact that his beautiful, fantastic boyfriend was now his beautiful, fantastic fiance or even the fact that the kid he was supposed to look out for had had a slumber party with a child murderer last night.  
Phrased like that it almost sounded like something out of a shitty soap opera.

Leorio sauntered down the street, on his way back to the apartment. Kurapika had texted him to pick up a few things from the store, so he took a different route than usually. It was a bit longer but only by a few minutes.

He entered the store and checked his phone again for the shopping list. 

Flour, beans, dark chocolate (for baking), some cheese and toast.

Easy enough.

So Leorio grabbed a basket and made his way through the store.   
The toast was sold out, but he could probably come back for that the next morning.  
He had no idea what kind of beans Kurapika meant and ended up two kinds he considered the most likely. If they weren't right then he had more to buy tomorrow.  
Cheese was easier to decide and he made his way over to the isle with all the stuff for baking.

The isle was empty except for a girl and a boy.

On second glance the boy seemed familiar.

On third glance Leorio realised that it was Killua.

He didn't recognize the girl, though.  
She was shorter than Killua, with long black hair, that had beads woven into it and wore a pink dress.

The two stood by the cake mixes and the girl excitedly pointed at different ones.

"Or we could try this!" Leorio caught her saying. "Oh! And this looks good!"

Killua chuckled. "We can't try all of them at once, you know. We can come here again, if you want to."

She gasped: "Really?"

"Of course," Killua told her and she tackled him in a hug. He patted her head and Leorio was pretty sure he had never seen the boy smile so gently.

Just as the girl pulled back Killua noticed him.

"Hey, old man!" he called and waved.

Leorio groaned but walked over to them anyway.

"I'm not that old!" he complained. 

"Sure thing, old man," Killua smirked at him. The girl giggled. 

"This is Leorio," Killua said to her. "I told you about him."

She nodded and smiled at Leorio. 

"Leorio, this is my sister Alluka."

"And the two of you are shopping for cake mixes?" Leorio questioned. He kept his voice neutral to make sure neither of them could guess that the full question was 'And you two assassins are shopping for cake mixes and pretending to be normal kids just after I tried to get myself to remember that you're anything but why exactly?'

Killua shrugged: "We both like sweets and I promised Alluka to test some with her, and we ended up deciding that cakes count as sweets. We could try making from scratch but cake mix is easier and faster."

"I don't really know how to bake," Alluka admitted. "And here you can see all the different kinds of cakes! I didn't know there were so many!"

"Do you have any idea which ones are good?" Killua asked suddenly.

Leorio let his gaze wander over the different boxes. Most of them were pretty basic flavours with maybe one or two unusual ones.

"No idea," he shrugged. "I never bought cake mix before. Plus I have no idea what flavours you already know and what stuff you like."

The siblings turned back to the shelf and Leorio grabbed the stuff he needed.

"It was nice seeing you two but I gotta go," he announced and waved over his shoulder as he sauntered out of the isle.

"Bye, old man."

"Goodbye!"

So now Leorio had met two of the murder children. Great.  
Alluka acted even more like a regular, innocent child than Killua did.

Great. Just great.


	4. Realisation

Leorio was ready to just lie down and sleep for the rest of his life.  
Exam season was designed to make students give up on live, he was sure.  
He barely was home between studying, taking exams and eating shitty food at shitty fast food places.  
When he was home he was almost always sleeping.

Weeks went by like this and when Leorio walked out from the final exam he felt like a weight had fallen off his shoulders.

He stumbled down the streets, barely aware of where he was going and trusting his body to find the way home on muscle memory.

His walks through the city were nowhere as tense and stressful as they had used to be.

When he finally got home he was greeted by the smell of cabbages.

"Gon? Is that you?" he heard Kurapika call from the kitchen.

"Nah, it's me," Leorio responded with a yawn. 

Kurapika came into the hallway. He looked worried.

"Leorio, have you seen Gon outside?" he asked, his eyes blood red.

"No, I haven't," Leorio frowned. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"I don't know. He wasn't here when I got home and I tried to call him and he didn't pick up and I'm getting worried. What if something happened to him?" Kurapika pulled at his hair. He was clearly distressed.

"Didn't he leave a note or something?" Leorio asked. Gon usually made sure they knew where he went to keep them from worrying. He was responsible enough for that.

"No! Nothing!"

"Shit," Leorio cursed. 

"Oh, god. What if something happened to him?" Kurapika muttered. 

"Maybe we can go out to look for him," Leorio suggested.

Kurapika nodded. "Okay, let's."

Leorio turned off the stove while Kurapika put on his shoes and jacket.

A slight drizzle greeted them when they got outside.

They turned left, even though Leorio had no idea why. Intuition maybe. Or instinct.

Kurapika held his hand tightly.

They checked the park where Gon liked to go to burn of energy or play with other children, but even the parents they asked hadn't seen him.

They went to his school and met his teacher by the gate who claimed yo have seen Gon leave hours ago.

It didn't help with the anxiety growing in Leorio's lungs and Kurapika put his hood up in an attempt to somewhat hide his by now glowing red eyes.

The rain was getting worse and the first street lights turned on.

"Fuck," Kurapika swore. "Where could he be? He has to be somewhere!"

Leorio stopped in his tracks.

"Have you-" he hesitated. "Have you tried calling Killua?"

Kurapika shook his head. With the hood Leorio couldn't really see his expression.

Kurapika pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found Killua's.

His thumb hovered over the call button for a few seconds then he pressed it and put the call on speaker for Leorio to hear.

Beep.

Beep.

"Hello?" 

Killua's voice sounded hoarse.

"Killua! It's Kurapika. Have you by any chance seen Gon today?" 

A slight pause.

"Yes, I have. He's here with me-"

"Where are you?" Kurapika interrupted him.

"On our way back. We'll be there in a few minutes," Killua answered.

Kurapika took Leorio's hand again and they headed back towards the apartment building.

"We'll see you there then. You boys have some explaining to do."

With that Kurapika hung up and sighed in relief.  
Leorio felt like a boulder had fallen off his chest.

They ran almost the entire way back and up the stairs, only slowing down once to catch their breaths.

When they came in Gan and Killua were already on the couch, huddled together under a blanket.

Gon's face was bruised and had a few bandaids stuck on.  
Killua was even paler than usual long, thin bruise on his cheek and more on his hands.

Gon looked up as they came in, while Killua didn't even open his eyes.

"Sorry," Gon said guiltily. "I thought I'd be back before you came home."

Leorio got their first aid pack and kneeled down in front of him.

"Where were you?" Kurapika asked. "And what happened?!"

"It was my fault," Killua whispered, still leaning against Gon's shoulder.

"No, it wasn't," Gon protested. "You brother is just mean! He shouldn't have locked you in, no matter what you did!"

"Wait, what is going on?" Leorio asked.

"His brother locked him in and I got him out," Gon said and winced as Leorio sprayed disinfectant ober a cut on his cheek. 

"And who beat you up?" Kurapika asked, clearly worried.

"That was Canary," Gon replied.

"She's a butler," Killua added.

"And you?" Leorio asked. "Who hurt you?"

"Milluki. My older brother."

"Can you let me take a look?" Leorio asked.

Killua hesitated for a moment before pulling his shirt off.

Leorio felt sick. It looked like someone had lashed him.

"Why would your brother do that?" he carefully began disinfecting where the whip had broken skin.

"I stabbed him and Mother. That's why they locked me in and Milluki punished me."

Leorio continued on the slashed over Killua's torso and tried not to think about the implications of that.

Why had Killua attacked them? Did something like this happen often? Was physically abusing a twelve year old considered normal punishment in this family?

Leorio thought of Alluka back at the grocery store. How excited she had been over the cakes.  
He thought of Killua having stupid competitions with Gon. Who can jump higher, who can run faster, who can climb higher.

He studied the beat up and clearly tired boy in front of him and had to suppress the urge to march up to wherever the Zoldyck family lived and stab the first person he saw. He probably wouldn't be able to stab them anyway.

Those were trained fighters, he was just a guy with a knife.

Gon yawned.

"Can we eat dinner soon?" he asked Kurapika.

"If you promise never to do something like this again. Do you have any idea how worried we were?"

"Sorry," Gon looked down at his feet. "I won't do it again. Promise."

Kurapika gave him a tight hug and Gon followed him to the kitchen to help out.

Only Leorio heard the small noise Killua made at the loss of contact. He noticed the way Killua followed Gon with his eyes until he was out of sight and then deflated slightly, still looking towards the kitchen as if waiting for Gon to come back.

The feeling in his eyes when Gon came back out with plates wasn't friendship.

Leorio knew it from the way he looked at Kurapika.

He knew it from couples at the hospital who got to see eachother again after one of them was injured or had needed an operation.

Leorio knew love when he saw it.

Still he had no idea what to make of it.

Killua loved Gon.


	5. Playground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another character enters the scene...

Killua didn't go back home.

He didn't that day, he didn't the next, nor the entire next week.

He and Gon shared a bed and a room and from time to time Leorio overheard Gon say things he wasn't sure if they were meant as flirting or if Gon was just completely oblivious to what he was saying.   
Killua clearly wasn't.

Their shitty apartment was a bit small for four people but somehow it worked out.

Killua didn't go to school - apparently never had, not that it really surprised Leorio considering what family he was from - and since Kurapika and Leorio could hardly pretend to be his parents to get him into one he took over a lot of household chores, making it easier for Kurapika since he could work longer hours and earn more money, and also for Leorio since he could focus more on school and studying.

It wasn't easy to figure out at first but they made it work.

On Gon's birthday, a bright day that had no business being as hot as it was, they went to a simple restaurant in the outskirts of York New, since the one where Leorio had proposed to Kurapika was temporarily closed because of a death in the family of the owners.

Everytime he went out here Leorio was surprised all over by how much cleaner everything seemed compared to the centre of town where they lived and he went to school.

The alleyways weren't as dark, with less drug deals, muggings and assaults, there wasn't as much litter on the streets, the street lamps actually worked and some of the houses were painted in nice colours with pretty flowerpots on the porches. Sure, a few had been knocked over, likely by delinquents, those were the minority.

There even was a nice playground next to the restaurant, without shady teenagers or graffiti, and Gon excitedly asked if he and Killua could go play there after dinner.  
Neither Leorio nor Kurapika could find a reason why they shouldn't. Kurapika just told them to stay in sight.

The boys ate quickly before Gon excitedly grabbed Killua's hand and pulled him towards the swings.

Leorio smiled fondly as he watched them go and took a sip of his beer.

"You know, I think Gon might have a crush on Killua," he told Kurapika.

"You _think_? He definitely has a crush. So does Killua," Kurapika said matter-of-factly and stole a french fry off Leorio's plate, dipping it in the ketchup until it was nearly completely covered.

"You think so? How can you be so sure?"

"When Gon called him 'cool' just after they met he acted cocky. When he told him he was 'smart' yesterday Killua blushed and told him that he should stop because he was being embarrassing," Kurapika explained and glanced outside again only to freeze. His face fell.

Leorio followed his gaze.

Gon and Killua were by the climbing frame. Next to them stood a tall man in what looked like a weird white clown costume. The man was smiling as he towered over the boys.  
Killua looked ready to bolt at any moment. Gon was still smiling but Leorio could see even from the distance how forced it was and the tension in his stance.

Kurapika was on his feet and out of the door in seconds.  
Leorio followed him quickly.

The man chuckled creepily at something Gon had said as they got closer.

"I bet you'll just be _delicious_ once you're _ripe_ , boy ♠️," he said, licking his lips. His voice made shivers run down Leorio's spine. Every instinct in his body told him that this man was dangerous. Very dangerous.

"Hey!" Kurapika called. "Get away from them!"

The man looked up, his smile barely falling.

"And who are you? ♦️" he asked.

"We're their friends," Leorio heard himself say. "Who the hell are you?"

The man chuckled.

"I'm Hisoka, the magician. ♣️"

He looked back down at the boys.

"Now, it was lovely talking to you, but I'm afraid I've got to go~ I'm sure we'll meet again. ♥️"

Then he turned around and disappeared into the shadows.

For a moment Leorio remained frozen, staring at where Hisoka had been, before he managed to snap himself out of it.

"Gon, Killua, are you okay?" he asked. "Did he do anything to you?"

Gon looked mostly confused.

He slowly shook his head.

"No, he was... just kinda weird," Gon shrugged.

"Killua?" Kurapika asked. "Are you alright?"

"I think I know that guy," Killua said hesitantly. "He uhm... He's my brother's fiance. I haven't met him before but I know his name... and that bloodlust."

"Bloodlust?" Gon asked.

"He's moments away from killing someone."

"What makes you think that?" Leorio frowned. He didn't doubt it, Hisoka had made the hairs on the back of his neck stand, but Killua sounded completely certain.

"I know his type. I'm the same."

Right.

Assassin child.

He had almost forgotten again.

"No, you're not," Kurapika spoke up. "You're nothing like that guy. Let's go back to the restaurant, boys. I think they have some nice desserts."

"Okay," Gon smiled. Still, Leorio could tell that the encounter had creeped him out.

On the way home Leorio noticed the same shivers run down his spine as earlier.

He looked around but couldn't see Hisoka anywhere.

No, he realised. It wasn't his bloodlust. It was Killua's.

Not a single street rat crossed their path on the way back and Leorio wondered if they could feel it. 

Was this what alerted him when something was going down in an alleyway?  
Bloodlust?

In that case, whose bloodlust had he felt on that day months ago when he had first met Killua?

The mans' who had cornered him?

Or the boy's?

He wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.

When he was finally lying in bed, Kurapika nuzzled in his side, he got the unpleasant feeling that it wouldn't be the last time they had encountered Hisoka.


End file.
